The present invention relates generally to plastic fasteners and more particularly to devices used in the dispensing of plastic fasteners.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,078 to A. R. Bone, which is incorporated herein by reference, there are disclosed several different types of plastic fasteners, or attachments, which are fabricated as part of continuously connected ladder stock. In each instance, the fastener has an H-shape, and the ladder stock is formed from two elongated and continuous plastic side members coupled together by a plurality of plastic cross links, the cross links preferably being equidistantly spaced. The stock may be produced from flexible plastics material including nylon, polypropylene and other similar materials by molding or by stamping.
Either manually or with the aid of specifically designed devices, individual fasteners may be dispensed from the ladder stock to couple buttons to fabric, merchandising tags to articles of commerce, or, in general, any two desired articles. In those instances where the dispensing device has dual needles, the attachments severed from the stock can be used like staples to secure objects and items.
Devices for dispensing plastic fasteners are well known in the art. Plastic fastener dispensing devices are commonly used to sever individual plastic fasteners from continuously connected ladder stock and to attach such individual plastic fasteners to items.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,816, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed an apparatus for dispensing attachments from continuously connected ladder stock of the type comprising a pair of plastic side members coupled together by a plurality of plastic cross links. The apparatus includes a mount, a support movably mounted on the mount, and a pair of carrier blocks mounted on the support. A needle block is mounted on each carrier block and a hollow, slotted needle is mounted on each needle block. A feed mechanism including a pair of feed wheels, is mounted on said support for advancing the ladder stock into the hollow slotted needles and a pair feed tracks, one for each hollow slotted needle, are provided through which the ladder stock passes from the feed wheels into the pair of hollow slotted needles. A pair of knives are provided for severing an attachment from the ladder stock, and a pair of ejector rods are provided for ejecting the severed attachment through the hollow slotted needles. The carrier blocks are disposed parallel to each other and movable sideways relative to each other so that the spacing between the hollow slotted needles can be changed for different applications and the feed wheels are disposed parallel to each other and movable sideways relative to each other so that their spacing can be changed to accommodate different widths of ladder stock. In order to provide a path for the ladder stock form the feed wheels to the hollow slotted needles for different feed wheel spacings and/or needle spacings, each feed track assembly includes a pivotally mounted section.
The apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,816 is well known in the art and is commonly referred to simply as a variable needle system (VNS). As can be appreciated, the variable needle system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,816 suffers from a notable drawback. Specifically, in use, the user is required to manually urge the items to be coupled against the pair of needles in such a manner so that the pair of needles penetrates through the items. As a result, it has been found that the user is at risk of inadvertently contacting the sharpened end of the needles, which is highly undesirable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,366 to C. L. Deschenes, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a device for dispensing plastic attachments of the type which are formed as part of a roll of continuously connected ladder stock. In one embodiment, the device includes a pair of hollow slotted needles each having a tip, a rear end and a longitudinal axis. A feed wheel, placed proximate to the rear ends of the pair of needles, is used to feed individual attachments of a roll of ladder stock into the pair of needles through their respective rear ends at angles relative to the longitudinal axes thereof. Once inserted into the needles, an attachment is severed from the remainder of the ladder stock by a knife and is then expelled from the needles by a pair of ejector rods movable along the longitudinal axes of the pair of needles. Because attachments are fed into the pair of needles at angles relative to their longitudinal axes, no shuttling of the needles between an attachment feeding position and an attachment ejecting position is required. The pair of needles, the feed wheel, the knife, and the pair of ejector rods are all mounted on a vertically movable head member. An electric motor assembly is used to move the head member between an attachment dispensing position and a withdrawal position. The vertical movement of the head member drives the operation of the feed wheel, the knife and the ejector rods.
The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,366 includes a frame which includes a base, a neck, a housing, and an arm onto which a reactor plate is mounted. It should be noted that the reactor plate for the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,366 serves as a support surface, or anvil, on which the items to be coupled by a plastic fastener are placed. The reactor plate typically includes a top surface, a bottom surface and a pair of openings formed in the top surface. The openings are typically circular in lateral cross-section and are relatively small in size (approximately 0.25 inches in diameter).
In use, the items to be attached by a plastic fastener using the device described above are placed on the reactor plate. Activation of the crank arm drives each hollow slotted needle down through the items to be attached and into an associated opening formed in the top surface of the reactor plate. With each needle disposed through the items and into its associated opening in the reactor plate, further activation of the crank arm downwardly projects an ejector rod which is disposed inside the hollow needle. Downward projection of the ejector rod urges a cross-bar of the plastic fastener through the articles to be coupled, thereby securing the articles together.
Although devices of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,366 have performed reasonably well in dispensing plastic fasteners, it has been found that these types of devices often experience two notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, it has been found that, on occasion, the reactor plate provides inadequate support during the process of coupling together the desired articles. Specifically, it has been found that, as each needle is attempting to pierce through the items during the coupling process, articles which are manufactured out of a thin material are often pushed down into its associated opening in the reactor plate by the needle. As a result, the needle is unable to pierce all the way through the items, thereby preventing the device from properly coupling the desired articles with a plastic fastener, which is highly undesirable.
As a second drawback, it has been found that, on occasion, each needle does not properly align itself down into its associated opening formed in the reactor plate. Specifically, as the needle is displaced downward through the items, the fabric, or weave, of the items often bends, or attenuates, the needle, thereby displacing the needle laterally. As a consequence, the needle is often misaligned and, accordingly, will abut against the top surface of the reactor plate rather than project down into the relatively small opening in the reactor plate, thereby preventing the device from properly coupling the desired articles with a plastic fastener, which is highly undesirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved system for coupling two or more items with a plastic fastener.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for coupling two or more items with a plastic fastener which has a limited number of parts, which is easy to use and which is inexpensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, as one feature of the present invention, there is provided a system for coupling two or more items with a plastic fastener, said system comprising a device for dispensing the plastic fastener, said device comprising at least one hollowed needle, and an anvil adapted to support the two or more items to be coupled by the plastic fastener, said anvil comprising a plurality of filaments. brush anvil adapted to support two or more items to be coupled by a plastic fastener, said brush anvil comprising a plurality of filaments.
As another feature of the present invention, there is provided a system for coupling two or more items with a plastic fastener, said system comprising a device for dispensing the plastic fastener, said device comprising at least one hollowed needle, and an anvil adapted to support the two or more items to be coupled by the plastic fastener, said anvil comprising a first tuft of filaments and a second tuft of filaments.
As another feature of the present invention, there is provided a method of coupling two or more items with a plastic fastener, comprising the steps of providing an anvil comprising a plurality of filaments, disposing the two or more items on said anvil, and coupling the two or more items using a device for dispensing the plastic fastener, the device for dispensing the plastic fastener comprising at least one hollowed needle.
Various other features and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration, a specific embodiment for practicing the invention. This embodiment will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.